I never thought the words "You have loose soil!" would be so exciting, but they made me wiggle with anticipation. With Grant Watson of Grant's Gourmet Gardens as project leader, our neglected backyard plot was about to get an extreme garden makeover.

And when I say neglected, we're talking pitifully so. The 35-by-20 foot area, which had been dug out with high hopes, hadn't seen a vegetable in years. At a couple of random points over its tumultuous history, the garden had been planted with flowers, maybe a few herbs.

All that was in evidence today were straggly weeds taller than Watson, who stands at 6 foot 2. In other words, there's a lot of work to be done-but the point is, if we can do it with this bedraggled specimen, anybody can.

Gardening, one of the oldest forms of interaction between humankind and the earth, is returning to its original roots, so to speak. Step aside simply decorative garden and yard fixtures; people also want plants that produce genuine pick-it-and-serve-it fresh food. Good timing, too, for urban green thumbs. Cities, which cover only two percent of the earth's surface, consume 75 percent of its resources.

An eye on food
Over the past several years, a lot of concern has arisen over the integrity and supply of our food. Where are our foods grown-Canada or China? How are they grown-organically or conventionally? How far have they travelled-thousands of miles or one mile? There are two other questions that will be on everybody's minds if they're not already: Why have food prices been rising, and will they continue to rise?

Aided in part by books such as The 100-Mile Diet by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon and Fresh by John Bishop, organic home gardening is a small but proactive step in taking control over our food source. What shorter and safer path is there between seed and plate? Then there's the financial aspect. For every $1 invested, gardeners receive $6 worth of vegetables.

Organic farming, by definition, is without toxic agrichemicals and genetically modified organisms, but with lots of soilfriendly practices such as composting and use of natural fertilizers. With organic gardening, it all comes down to improving and maintaining the quality of the soil, which is why having "loose soil" is so exciting.

A 10-by-10 metre plot, in a 30-day temperate growing season, can produce almost enough vegetables for one household for a year. I'll settle for a successful first crop. One of Grant Watson's tips for new gardeners is to plant what you personally like to eat, so you're more likely to stay motivated.

Eat your landscape
A former computer techie turned farmer turned organic urban landscaper, Watson's specialty is edible landscaping. "Beauty with delicious rewards," he says of his business, which services the Burnaby/Vancouver area (www.gourmetgardens.ca).

Greens, beans, broccoli, squash, herbs and potatoes are a few easy-for-beginner staples that we've decided on for this garden. We're going to try tomatoes, cucumbers and broccoli too, which are a little tougher to grow apparently, but what the heck?

First we have to clear all those weeds. Although it's originally a daunting prospect, Watson introduces a permaculture concept of sheet mulching, which he describes as a "stable, low-maintenance system" and a quick way of getting a garden going, even over a grass lawn. (For more information on permaculture, see Sandra Tonn's "Lasagna Gardening" article in Health Action, Spring 2008).

Rather than wade in and go at it by hand, we flatten the weeds and level the soil. Then we lay thick mulching paper, which will eventually break down, over everything to smother the weeds and grass. Watson suggests that another option for thick paper is going to your local electrical appliances store and picking up old refrigerator cardboard boxes with low ink.

On top of the paper-overlapped at the edges by half a foot so weeds don't sneak through-comes an organic layer. We've chosen compost-five cubic yards of it!-delivered from a local supplier. After hauling it and dumping it, taking care to not let it slide between the paper edges, there's already a huge visual improvement.

Gardening Rs
Because Watson is a believer in recycling and reusing onsite resources, we lay old leaves raked from the yard into the footpaths he has designed. Along one edge, we've left a clump of parsley-a nice surprise to discover tangled in all that brush. Watson suggests letting it go to seed, which, during its flowering stage, will attract good pollinators such as honey bees and beneficial insects, another important aspect of gardening endeavours.

The rest of the parsley clump has been transplanted into a new lawn-dug garden along with sage and rosemary. Who needs lawn anyway? Grass absorbs water, requires time to maintain and uses energy for mowing. "A waste of space," as Mom would say. She'd be happy to see the whole backyard uprooted.

Watson has chosen several organic seed varieties from West Coast Seeds and Stellar Seeds. We plant mixed salad greens, romaine lettuce, pak choi from seed and broccoli from two-inch high seedlings. When gloves get in the way, I strip them off and say goodbye to my clean fingernails.

Earthy education
"Do you want to plant Brussels sprouts?" Watson asks. I'm doubtful. It seems like an awful lot of work, I point out, when one seed only gets you one sprout. Watson politely tries not to laugh while pointing out that one seed will actually produce a thigh-high plant with 15 to20 sprouts. In that case, I laugh, let's go for it.

We've planted in sections rather than intermingling all the plants together, which is a technique that makes young plants harder to identify and better left to more experienced gardeners than me.

Another of Watson's tips is to not be afraid to buy transplants rather than attempt to germinate seeds. He suggests looking at farmers' markets for organic varieties.

Each plant takes a different length of time to grow. Broccoli, for example, takes two-and-a-half to three months to grow while cilantro takes six to eight weeks. Romaine lettuce, apparently, can be harvested, and more leaves will grow in as long as the crown at the bottom of the plant isn't disturbed. A perpetually producing plant. Who knew? "Farmers knew," jokes Watson.

For more growing information, he mentions www.cityfarmer.org, www.certifiedorganic.bc.ca, www.permacultureguild.net and the book Greening the Garden: A Guide to Sustainable Growing by Dan Jason.

After we've planted our first batch of seeds and seedlings, we douse the garden with a good watering. One week later, new snow pea and onion buds are just popping though the soil. It's even more exciting knowing that their roots will eventually grow through the mulch paper and reach the true loose soil awaiting them beneath.

Chilly weather has messed with our planting schedule, somewhat. Will this extreme garden makeover be a success?

Vancouver-based writer Michelle Hancock was stiff for days after hauling compost into the garden for four hours.

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